In automatic weapons, that is, a weapon capable of firing more than one round before manual reloading is necessary, a common method of transferring a round from the feed tray to the feed position is by the use of a feed pawl. This is simply a pivotally mounted lever which pushes the round into the weapon receiver where it is chambered and made ready for firing. The pawl is carried by a base which rides in slots in the feed tray. The base reciprocates in the feed tray by means of a linkage between recoiling parts of the weapon system and the base. The reciprocating motion of the base and pawl is utilized to push cartridges from the feed tray to a position where chambering may be accomplished. On the return stroke the pawl must deflect downward under the next round to be fed. When the pawl, carried by the base, has traveled a sufficient amount to clear the next round, it is returned under spring tension to its original upright position.
An undesirable characteristic of this system is the tendency of the feed pawl to bounce downward again after it snaps free from the incoming round. This can cause a failure to feed to occur because tha pawl is trapped under the round instead of pushing against it. Consequently, the round is not advanced to the feed position and a stoppage occurs.